Love and Loneliness
by SweetPandaGeek
Summary: Meet Sachi Kawagachi, a genius girl who can't grow old and die, and Ritsuka Arakawa, a demon boy who must carry his clan. The strange pair both live in Tokyo, unknowing to each others existence, until the fire that changed everything.


love and loneliness

TOKYO, 2025~Sachi

Hello. My name is Sachi. If I was a normal girl I would say how old I am, and other things that would probably be useful. But I can't. It's not that I don't want to. I just can't. If I could I definitely would. But I can't exactly tell you my age, because I don't quite know myself. You see, it's slightly complicated. I was born with mankind, but I somehow can't grow old and die. Naturally, of course. Anyway, everyone thinks I'm only sixteen. Except one person. My sister, Akane. She has the same problem. Er, not a problem, but more of an unknown feat. Scientists have been looking for a "Forever Young" miracle for ages. That's why, if anyone asks, I'm just a normal sixteen year old girl. Who happens to be a genius.

My sister and I live alone. Together, but still alone. If we had parents, we can't remember them. Sometimes we wish we were "normal" people. It's not easy to watch our friends die. But that particular instance... Let's not talk about that yet. My sister was once very sick, and needed a blood transplant. That's why she can live forever, like me. So it has something to do with my blood.. But what?

"So are you going to eat, or just stare off into the distance?", a voice asked, annoyed. It was Akane.

I sighed and slowly picked up my chopsticks and scooped up the rice. As I ate, I stared at the walls of our condo. It was quite nice. A very large one. But if you live forever, you're bound to get rich. I live in Tokyo, in a city filled with modern buildings. But one house, just doesn't fit. Unlike the large modern houses, it was an oriental styled house. Not only was the house oriental, the people who lived in it were. Kind of. They wore traditional kimonos. But one of them looks to much like... Never mind.

After I finished, I put my dishes into the sink. I headed to my room. I stare at myself in the mirror. (Now, don't think that I'm narcissistic. It's an ancient reflecting technique) I pick up the patterned hair brush and run it through my brown hair. It surprisingly ran through easily. This was not normal. My hair had an annoying tendency to tangle. Well, I'm not going to complain about that. If you saw me on the street, sure, you would recognize me, but no one would suspect I was a girl with supernatural abilities. With my brown hair, hazel eyes, fair-ish skin, and below average height, I look pretty normal. To me, at least . My sister looks pretty much the same, but with a different hair colour. She dyed her hair blonde so that people can tell the difference between us.

Tokyo, 2025~Ritsuka

Hello. My name is Ritsuka. To the human world, I am simply a seventeen year old boy. But to _my _world, I am the leader of my clan of the fox and crow demons. Once, the fox clan and the crow clan where enemies, but since the great war, we have merged the two clans together. I am one of the two sons of the leaders of the fox clan, and crow clan. My older brother was supposed to be the next clan leader, but he refused the role, saying,

"If I was the leader of this clan, everyone would be dead."

Tadashi, my brother, is probably the most irresponsible possible clan leader in the history of possible clan leaders. I think he knows that, too. The reason we must keep the demon life a secret, is that the last time we revealed it to the world, it started the great war. So to avoid that from happening again, we keep our first life secret. My brother looks quite like me. Same copper hair with silver highlights, same fair skin, same blue eyes, just a bit taller and with a different face. We live in an oriental house because,

"We need to preserve our clan history." At least that's what dad says. Aniki, or how they call it in English, big brother, is eighteen. I'm seventeen. Even though we're supposed to blend in, we're apparently also required to wear kimonos.

"Do you smell that smoke…?" I hear Tadashi ask, slightly panicked. That's the last thing I remembered before I blacked out.

TOKYO, 2025~Sachi

The house went up in flames. Not our house, but the one next to us. The oriental style house. Before I knew what I was doing, I rushed next door, grabbing my sister by the hand. I didn't care what happened to me, I've lived long enough. But that family. So innocent. But him. I couldn't let him die again. Even if he doesn't remember me, I remember him. And I'm not letting him die again. I'll explain who _he_ is later. Right now the only thing I care about in this world, is saving them.

TOKYO, 2025~Ritsuka

I wake up. Not on my bed, that's in my room, but on a hospital bed. I panick. Hey, what else am I supposed to do?! If they take a blood sample to check me, they might find out about, you know, _IT._

But I see aniki and my father, insisting with the hospital staff that I'm fine. _Thank the demon lord_, I think. I feel eyes. Not touching me, but watching me. Curious, anticipating me to turn around. I whip my head around, to find two, amazingly beautiful, girls. One is a brunette, and the other, a blonde. But that's the only difference between them. At least, the only visible difference. They both have the same fair-ish skin, bright hazel brown eyes, and the exact same face. And when I say exact, I mean _EXACT._ Right down to the last detail. I feel heat rising up to my face. I bet I'm red hot right now. Maybe I can make an excuse, like say… My thoughts are interrupted by the brunette. She delicately coughed. Well, as delicate as someone can cough.

"Um… Are you… Okay?" The brunette finally spoke.

"Uh… Yeah. I'm fine." I replied. It's been a while since I've talked to someone from the outside world.

"We saw the fire, and ran over and called the EMS. I hope you're not, you know, hurt, or anything.."

"Oh, don't worry about me. Anyways, thank you. Without you, I might have died."

"It was no problem at all. My name is Sachi." _Sachi…_ I think

"Oh, and I'm Akane." The blonde spoke. _Akane and Sachi… Are they sisters, maybe?_ I suddenly snap back to reality.

"M-my name is Ritsuka." I manage to stutter out. Why do I feel so nervous around them!? They're just two, very kind, and very beautiful, girls. And, as if on cue, Tadashi comes in.

TOKYO, 2025~Sachi

I saved him. This time at least. But you never know when it will happen again. I still remember the screaming, the crying from that time.

_Ritsuka… That's his name. I wonder if he remembers my name right now. He might have a slight concussion._

It's been a day since the fire. We diagnosed him from conversations, and he seems fine, but he stutters a bit. I think he's probably in shock.

But it's a bit odd that none of them got burns. I could have sworn that fire was big enough and close enough for burns. And the house! It should have been burned to a crisp! But it's intact! Something's not right… I'm going to check it out.

TOKYO, 2025~Ritsuka

Aniki and Father fixed the house, even though I told them not to.

"How weird would it be if the house, that was a bonfire just yesterday, was repaired the very next?! The rule of being here is to make sure that no one finds out!" Yet they spite me, by fixing the house…. I just don't understand them sometimes.

"RITSUKA!" A voice calls. It's not Tadashi, or Father. It was a girl. It's the girl who brought me to the hospital. The brunette. I think she said her name was Sachi…

"Ritsuka." Sachi is now standing three feet away from me. She beckons me over. Without thinking, I start walking towards her.

_WHAT AM I DOING!? STOP WALKING! _I think to myself. I wince as I find myself in front of her.

"Explain. NOW." Sachi says, gritting her teeth. I sigh and start explaining. I explained about the magic we used to fix the house, about the demon life, all of entire time I was explaining, I yelled at myself in my head

_SHUT UP. No, what are you trying to do? Destroy the clan!? _But her brown eyes burned into mine, sucking the answers out of me.

"Now it's your turn. Why did you save me? Why didn't you let me die!?" She was silent as a stone. She looked at the ground, then at me, then at her house, then back at me. No reply. It had been a minute or so, and I started to give up. I turned my back to her, and started walking.

"Wait. I'll tell you."

TOKYO, 2025~Sachi

It's hard to tell a secret. It's even harder to keep one. But I had to. I couldn't stand to see him like that.

"So. Is that really the only reason you saved me? Because I looked like someone you knew!?"

"No. I didn't want to see you die before my eyes. I don't want to see _anyone_ die before my eyes."

"Well, you can't help that. You'll have to see people die eventually."

Pause for a minute. I guess I still haven't explained to _you_ why I saved Ritsuka. So here goes. A couple decades ago, I met him. He had a heart condition from birth. Ritsuka, I mean. The current Ritsuka is an incarnation of the last one. _My_ Ritsuka. Because of his heart condition, his parents abandoned him.

"You're the only friend I have." That's what he used to say. Usually accompanied by a small smile. I brought him cake, I took care of him, and he repaid me with the company I wanted. But then, it happened. The fire that burned him to death. I was all the way across town, and couldn't save him. Now do you understand? I couldn't let the same thing happen again. Not when I was in such close grasp of him. The cause of the fire was, and still is, unknown. I'm going to make sure Ritsuka has a long life.

TOKYO, 2025~Ritsuka

The demons will all vie

for a girl who will not die

For the girl will bring the truth

In an eternal fountain of youth

The blood will heal and

A marriage will seal

The promise that you will prosper

That's what I am thinking. It's the demon prophecy. I know she's the one. I think I'm the only one who knows though.

"So. You think she's the one?" A voice speaks in my ear. I jump. My head turns around slowly, to find Tadashi, only millimetres away from my face. Well. Apparently, Tadashi knows too.

"Just don't tell Father." He'll make a big scene, then, BAM. She's dead. Because if it's anything like what the prophecy says, no doubt there's gonna be a battle royale going on in Tokyo, and I don't think that's a good thing. But what I'm concerned about is the female clans. The clans that are all female would have female leaders. A female leader wouldn't want marriage, they'd want blood. If you've seen the bloodlust in them, you be afraid too. They battle fierce, seduce the enemy, and attack with all their heart. They capture to torture, and fight to win, and they LOVE to hear the enemy screams. Kinda like that one right now.

TOKYO, 2025~Sachi

A shriek of fear escapes. Not from me, but from Akane. She's downstairs.

_NO. NO, NO. NO. THIS IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN._ I rush down the stairs. By this time, the screaming is gone. I should be relieved, right? But something else is gone. Akane.

I go to the only place I can think of. Ritsuka's house. I am greeted by Ritsuka's brother, Tadashi. A wisp of smoke drifts past me.

"I'm assuming you're here to see Ritsuka…. Right?"

"Um, yes. It's really important…. And when I say important, I mean REALLY important. Like, kidnapped sister important."

"Come on in." I step inside. _They live in an amazing house! _ It's decorated with beautiful paintings of birds and flowers. I take a deep breath in.

"Mmmm….Cherry Blossoms." The alluring scent flooded my senses, bringing memory after memory. But those memories only bring waves of pain and heartache.

"So, why did you come?" I realize where I am. Back in Ritsuka's house.

"Akane's missing. I think she was kidnapped." Ritsuka gives me a look as if to ask _Seriously? _But he sees the distressed look in my eyes, and knows I'm telling the truth.

TOKYO, 2025~Ritsuka

"The first thing we have to do, is go look for a clue. Something that could help us find your sister." I say.

"I know what a clue is." Sachi glares at me. As we head to Sachi's house, I hear her gasp.

"What is it?"

"Uh… It's nothing." It didn't sound like nothing. Oh well. We arrive at Sachi's house. The door is swung open.

"It was open when I went downstairs." Sachi says softly. Tadashi starts to sniff around. "What's he doing?" I hear Sachi whisper.

"He's looking for an unknown scent. We're both fox demons, remember? We have a good sense of smell. If he finds a scent, he can identify it."

"I found it! It's…. The Yokais. The female demons. If we don't find Akane now, they might kill her." I take a glance at Sachi. She looks surprisingly calm.

"I thought something like this would happen." Tears begin to well in her eyes.

"Why does everyone get hurt because of me…!? W-Why do I always get people hurt? It's probably better i-if I was g-gone… " Sachi's now crying.

"That's not true Sachi, don't say that-" I'm cut off by a screaming Sachi. Screaming at me.

"I CAN'T HANDLE IT ANYMORE! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO LIVE IN FEAR! A FEAR OF WHO'S GOING TO DIE NEXT! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO WATCH PEOPLE YOU LOVE DIE!" Sachi screams. "I'd rather give my soul, than watch my friends die any longer. I'm sick of being afraid. But I can never take a break. I have to keep going. That's what I've learned. Living for your friends is harder than dying for your friends." She shows… A smile?

"So that means we have to go to yokai territory. It's a couple miles away from here. We can fly there." I say.

TOKYO, 2025~Sachi

"We're going to fly?"

"No, we fly. We'll carry you." Tadashi laughs lightly. " Unless you can fly." I sigh.

I feel hands. I turn my head to find Ritsuka. He scoops me up.

"You're so light." Ritsuka exclaimed. I sigh again. We are lifted in the air. It makes you feel so light and free, as if you are sleeping on a bed of air. But that was kind of what we were doing. I snuggle against Ritsuka. _It's warm…_ His heart and his wings have synced. His heart control his wings, his wings control his heart.

"You should sleep. This might take a while." Ritsuka whispers in my ear. It's the middle of the night, and I was tired…

"But what if I fall?" I ask.

"I won't let you." I don't know when, but I fall slowly into the arms of sleep.

HOKKAIDO, 2025~ Ritsuka.

Sachi sleeps in my arms. _She's soft. Like a sleeping kitten. So innocent._ The sun has just begun to rise. We have long ago left the city streets of Tokyo. Lights adorn the small unpaved roads of Hokkaido. We are in the country part. The sky is bathed in silky purples, soft oranges, and flowy crimson. I smile. Sachi's eyelids flutter open. Her hazel eyes reflect the skylight. She yawns. "Almost there, Sachi," I whisper. "You can go back to sleep now. It's okay".

"No. I want to stay awake and watch the sunrise."

"We're here." Tadashi says.

HOKKAIDO, 2025~ Sachi

It's beautiful. Rows of blinking, pink lights line the unpaved dirt roads. The smooth silky calmness of sunlight washes over me. As Ritsuka, Tadashi, and I slowly descend, a cherry blossom petal falls in my lap. This sweet, sugary scent brings the painful memories. Yet I can't ignore this alluring aroma. My feet touch the ground, and a warm breeze blows in the air.

"It's monsoon. Feels like summer, and smells like fall. My favorite weather." I mention.

"Hmm? Really?" I don't know if Ritsuka saying this, is good or bad. Hopefully good. "I like the spring. That's what I'm named after. A day in the spring." For a moment, I look into his eyes, and he looks into mine.

"All right, we need to head to the yokai village. I think we head north." Tadashi breaks the silence.

"You think?" Ritsuka says sarcastically. "What do you mean, 'I think'? We either head north, or we don't."

"Let's just go north. We'll see how it goes. If it's not north, _you_ ," I say pointing at Ritsuka, "Can brag about your excellent ability of disagreeing with your brother."

"Fine. We'll go North." Ritsuka says, reluctantly. "Because going North means flying, and flying means I have to carry you." He _likes_ carrying me? I blush.

"Why can't we walk?" I ask.

"Because, we don't know how long we'd have to walk. For all we know, we could have to walk 5 miles, and that's not fun." Ritsuka scoops me up, and I settle into his arms. The sun has risen already, and house lights have started to come on. "We need to cast a spell so that no one can see us." There's a flash of blinding light. I don't know if the spell worked, though. I guess, if it worked, it worked, if it didn't….. We'll find out eventually.

We slowly rise into the sky as Ritsuka and Tadashi beat their wings in the air. With nothing to do, and fully awake, I find the current situation a bit boring. "How do your wings come out?" I don't know why I'm asking, but I _was_ interested. "I mean, do you use magic to hide them, or do they come in and out?"

"We use cloaking magic. But we can make our wings vanish too. It just feels odd without wings. Kimonos help hide our wings too, but they don't let us blend in very well." So that's it. That's why they wear kimonos, right?

HOKKAIDO, 2025~Ritsuka

"Akane!" In the lair of the Yokai, Sachi screams her sisters name. We see a glimpse of long blonde hair. Sachi runs towards what seems to be her sister. She turns a corner. I look at Tadashi, and we both run after her. But we're stopped in our tracks. That's literal. We can't move!

"It's an enchantment! Sachi, stop!" I yell. Sachi keeps running. "Tadashi, overwrite the enchantment!"

"Already on it!" He furiously wrote symbols on the invisible wall. The wall lifts it's grasp on Tadashi and I. We shoot forward. We spot Sachi sprinting towards a shadow in the darkness with long blond hair. Suddenly, Sachi stops.

"Akane? Is that really you..?" The girl with long blonde hair takes a small step forward. Then, she springs forward. She pounces forward.

"Sachi, it's not Akane! You have to run!" But Sachi only steps back.

"Now then, where's the _real_ Akane? The real Akane wouldn't have run away from me." Sachi stares calmly at the girl with blonde hair. The blonde cackles.

"Hmph, you got me…" The blonde replies sarcastically. A glowing blue light emits from her. Suddenly, she changes completely. She has long black hair, and fangs emerge from her mouth. "I'm a Yokai. The name's Kondou. Nice to meet you." Kondou's smile is utterly frightening. _She's insane._

"I will repeat my question. WHERE IS AKANE?" Sachi says, gritting her teeth. She glares at Kondou.

"Fight me. Then I'll tell you where your sister is." The Yokai taunts.

"DON'T DO IT SACHI! FIGHTING A YOKAI IS SUICIDE!" Tadashi screams. But Sachi merely looks up at Tadashi. Before I know what's going on, Kondou takes a swing at Sachi. But something surprises me. Sachi's calm facial expression doesn't change, as she grabs Kondou's wrist and slams her to the floor. _Her fighting skills are immaculate! Even better than mine!_ I think. I realize where I am, and Sachi yells,

"Ritsuka, don't just stand there gawking, go find Akane! I'll be fine with this amateur." Sachi quickly blocks a kick to the face from Kondou. Acting as quick as possible, Tadashi grabs me by the hand and leads me past the corner. A muffled screaming sound comes from the right.

"It's Akane! That's her scent!" Tadashi runs. I run after him. We run for what feels like a year, only to be greeted by… More Yokai. Great. A clatter of footsteps runs up from behind me, and I turn around, ready to kick up a fight, but it was only Sachi. She didn't look the slightest unnerved. In fact, she's completely calm, as if this was nothing at all. I have no idea how she is managing that. She might as well have done this 100 times, for all I know. The Yokai pounce towards us 6 at a time, and each of us must take 2 of them down at once if we want to survive. _That's easier said than done_. But after a couple minutes, I notice the Yokai seemed to go in favor to Sachi. They all ran at an angle towards Sachi. _I wonder why_…. As I think this, the Yokai all drop to the floor. Taking the chance, Sachi takes out a rope, and uses it to tie up the remaining Yokai. "Where'd she get a _rope_?!" Tadashi whispers to me.

"No idea." A muffled shriek comes from a dark part of the cave. I see Sachi slowly advancing towards the darkness. An ominous light suddenly illuminate the entire room. This time, it really is Akane. Sachi runs over to Akane, and Tadashi and I follow. Sachi unties the bindings and Akane slowly stands up. That's the last thing I see before I'm stabbed through the stomach.

HOKKAIDO, 2025~Sachi

A shriek comes out of me, as I watch the only person I ever loved, other than Akane, get stabbed through a vital organ. Ritsuka drops to the floor. As I kneel before him, his eyes glow a bright blue, and so do the tears that fall from them.

"The spirit of him lies in those tears. Collect them." Tadashi tells me. A vial appears in my hands, and I let the tears drip into it. On that spot, Ritsuka tells me his last words,

"Don't worry. We'll meet again someday. You are never alone." At that moment, his heart stops beating, and time is frozen, and all is still. The Yokai that stabbed him disappeared somehow, and Ritsuka's eyes are closed shut for eternity. The vial of tears are in my trembling hands. The reality sinks in to my soul, and my eyes cry tears of their own. I'm not sure how, but we end back in Tokyo, in front of Ritsuka and Tadashi's home. The words he said stick with me. "Don't worry. We'll meet again someday. You are never alone."

EPILOGUE: TOKYO, 2030~Sachi

Tadashi, Akane, and I visit Ritsuka's grave every time we can, and always on his birthday and the anniversary of the day he died. The words he said are engraved on his tombstone, "Don't worry. We'll meet again someday. You are never alone." Tadashi is now 23 years old. Akane is thankfully still alive. So am I. The tears of Ritsuka's soul and spirit sit in my jewelry box during the night, and during the day, it's on a chain around my neck. It's likely that in a couple years, it will all happen again. But when the time comes, I will make sure that no one else dies because of me. You, the one who is reading this, might not know the words I said back. They didn't quite make sense, but I'm sure Ritsuka knew what I meant.

"**ALWAYS."**


End file.
